For the past 15-20 years, enjoying cinema surround sound in the comfort of your living room has been a reality. Home cinema systems and terms such as “5.1” and “7.2” have been commonplace, and watching your favourite movies and TV shows in immersive surround sound is no longer just available to cinema goers.
However, this technology has seemed somewhat stagnant in recent years, and while small technological advances have been realised, the format of cinematic sound has remained largely the same. Until now. Dolby Atmos has been billed as the future of cinematic sound and surround sound, bringing and additional dimension and layer of immersion to the sound you enjoy – both at the cinema, and in your living room!
What Is Dolby Atmos?
With current surround sound technology, static elements such as bass and other sonic textures form a“bed” upon which directional and localized sounds are built. This surrounds the listener in audio from front to back.
Dolby Atmos takes this concept, and makes surround sound a truly three dimensional concept, using in ceiling or Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers to add “Object-oriented” sounds which can be localised in a specific speaker or panned around and above you in a multidimensional sound field. This means that explosions, voices, car engines etc. will all be tangible and audible in a wholly three dimensional and immersive manner.
Together, the audio bed and mixed object-oriented effects convincingly simulate the sounds you might hear if you were in the film, not merely observing it. Effects move around the room just as they would in real life.
Dolby Atmos Configurations
At present, there are a range of configurations for surround sound audio – commonly “5.1”, “7.1”, “7.2”, “9.1”, “9.2” and “11.2”. These numbers refer to the the quantity of individual speakers followed by the number of subwoofers in the setup. So a 5.1 system consists of 5 individual speakers and 1 subwoofer which provides bass frequencies. Likewise, a 9.2 system consists of 9 individual speakers and 2 subwoofers!
Dolby Atmos adds an additional digit to indicate the number of Dolby Atmos or in-ceiling speakers included with the system.
e.g. 5.1.2 is a traditional 5.1 system as well as 2 Dolby Atmos speakers.
If you are thinking that Dolby Atmos use of in-ceiling speakers would mean you have to drill into your ceiling don’t fear! Many Dolby Atmos enabled speakers use projection to vertically project the sound , and are visually no different to a traditional surround sound speaker setup. See the image below.
Left: Showing a Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 system using 2 in-ceiling speakers.
Right: A Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 system using Dolby Atmos front speakers projecting 2 additional channels of audio.
How Can I Get Atmos?
At present, Dolby Atmos is cutting edge technology, making its way into movie theatres as we speak. Globally, more than 100 cinema blockbusters have been released featuring Dolby Atmos soundtracks in the past two years, and many more are on the way. Major Hollywood studios are partnering with Dolby to create home video versions of both current box office releases and previously released favorites for release in 2014. In addition to global studio partnerships, Dolby is partnering with game and music content creators to develop Dolby Atmos technology for future home theater use. Dolby Atmos is making its way into the latest generation of AV Receivers and Surround Sound Speaker Systems.
The Onkyo TX-NR3030 is a flagship AV Receiver, with 11.2 channel audio, allowing for an impressive 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos system!
You can view our range of Dolby Atmos equipment here, due to ship this summer! This is set to be the hottest technology, and is sure to fly off the shelves, so get your Pre Orders in quick if you want to be the first to enjoy the full Dolby Atmos experience in your home.